GUIDANCE NOTES FOR APPLYING FOR AN OCCASIONAL LICENCE

  1. The legislation provides that only:
  • The holder of a Premises Licence (including Clubs which hold a Premises Licence)
  • The holder of a Personal Licence
  • A representative of any Voluntary Organisation

may apply for an Occasional Licence.

  1. There are limits on Occasional Licences that can be applied for by Voluntary Organisations and Clubs:

In any period of 12 months there can be

a)No more than 4 with a duration of 4 days or more, and

b)No more than 12 with a duration of less than 4 days,

and the 12 month total cannot exceed 56 days. Clubs which have given up their Section 125 Status are not subject to these limits.

A Voluntary Organisation can only have an Occasional Licence for an event taking place in connection with its activities.

  1. An Occasional Licence is only available where the Premises are not already licensed for the sale of alcohol (except that a Club may apply for a Licence for its own Premises).
  1. Where a Temporary Structure (such as a tent) is to be used, the Board needs a plan showing the area to be licensed. The Occasional Licence covers both the Temporary Structure and a roped area beside it reserved exclusively for this purpose.
  1. An Occasional Licence can cover a period of up to 14 days.

The Licensing Board’s Policy on hours is

a)Alcohol sale should not start before 11.00am.

b)Alcohol sale should not continue after:

Period / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / Sunday
Annually except festive period / 12 midnight / 12 midnight / 12
midnight / 1.00am / 1.00am / 1.00am / 12 midnight
Festive Period / 1.00am / 1.00am / 1.00am / 2.00am / 2.00am / 2.00am / 1.00am

If you wish hours outside these times, your Application will have to be referred to a full Meeting of the Licensing Board at which you will require to demonstrate to the Board that the additional requested hours are appropriate in the circumstances.

A practical point is that due to the Board’s timetable it is possible that the Meeting would not be until after the date of your proposed event.

In some cases, where an event is being held on Council property, the time covered by the Occasional Licence may be less than the period applied for. This is to allow for clearing of the Premises at the end of the event.

  1. Where alcohol is to be sold for consumption on the Premises, the Act requires that a statement be made as the whether children (under 16) and young persons (aged 16 or 17) are to be allowed entry, and if they are, a statement of the terms on which they are allowed entry.
  1. Data Protection Act: the information on this form may be held on an electronic register which may be available to members of the public on request.
  1. Information on the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 is available on the website of the Scottish Parliament

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  1. Where the Board receives the application:
  • It tells the Police,
  • It tells the Board’s Licensing Standards Officer (LSO), and
  • It advertises the Application on its public website for 7 days.

The Police and LSO can comment on the Application. Any person (e.g a local resident) can make objections or representations.

  1. Any Occasional Licence will be subject to Parts A & H of the Board’s Standard Conditions. The Standard Conditions are on the Board’s website and include obligatory conditions set by Law (Schedule 4 to the 2005 Act). They are reviewed from time to time and the version which will apply will be the most recent version.

All staff who are selling or serving alcohol should have the same level of training which would be required of staff on other Licensed Premises. This requirement applies to all Occasional Licences including those granted to Voluntary Organisations.

If a Temporary Structure is used, the Licence Holder must follow the instructions of any officer of North Ayrshire Council prior to and throughout the duration of the Occasional Licence.

  1. Important: because of the timetable set down by the legislation, an Applicant should assume that the Board will need at least 28 days from the date of lodging before it can grant the Licence. Any applications that give less than 28 day’s notice will be subject to the Licensing Board’s “Late Policy”.

If any of these happen:

  • There are objections of representations, or
  • There are any comments from the Police or LSO,or
  • The Applicant wants the Board to change the Standard Conditions (the Board cannot change the Schedule 4 Conditions)

the process is likely to take much longer than 28 days because the Application must be considered at a Meeting of the whole Licensing Board, and there is the possibility of proceedings in the Sheriff Court.

The fee for the application is £10. This must be paid when the application is lodged. This fee is not returnableif you decide to withdraw the application or if the licence is refused.